Vista Barrel Club

Limited Release Wine-Barrel-Aged Beers, For Members Only

Our barrel program is focused on Lambic-style and Brettanomyces beers made with Texas grains and fermented in freshly-emptied wine barrels from Central Texas wineries. Vista’s limestone-filtered well water is an elegant base for delicate yeasts strains used in our barrel program. We’re creating limited-release beers exclusive to our member’s club, with quarterly allotments for pickup.

Quarterly Allotment

Each quarter, members will received an allotment of 4-6 bottles (dependent on bottle format), chosen by Vista based on our bottle release calendar. Members may pick up their allotment at a scheduled “Pickup Party” at Vista for members and their guests (sorry, no shipping at this time).

We can also hold your allotment until a convenient time, and you may opt out of an allotment prior to the pickup date.

Unique Access & Events

Each allotment, chosen by our Brewmaster, includes unique bottle offerings available only to club members, such as single wine barrels aged on fruit.

You will also receive invitations to the Pickup Parties and first access to release pairing dinners and other events. Other benefits such as access to Vista Library bottles and ability purchase our used wine barrels are also included.

Discounts &

Perks

Other discounts and perks included in your $50 annual membership fee include:

Questions? Feel free to drop us a line at barrelclub@vistabrewingtx.com.

Upcoming Releases

Apricot Sakura

Wine Barrel Aged Brett Ale with Apricots (Club exclusive)

Seeking Sakura

Wine Barrel Aged Brett Ale with Cherries

The March 2019 Barrel Club release is a fruited, wine barrel aged Brett Ale. Our team here at Vista is inspired by finding beauty in the world around us. Each year, millions of people travel to Japan seeking the beauty of the cherry blossom, or “sakura.” We’re honoring this tradition by creating beautiful fruited brett ales. Members will receive the exclusive apricot brett ale, as well as the cherry brett ale which will be released to the public.

About the Beer

This batch was aged in freshly-emptied wine barrels from our friends down the road at Lewis Wines in Johnson City, TX. These barrels held a red blend with 75 % Tempranillo and 25% Cabernet Savignon. We picked up the barrels just after the wine was bottled, sealed them up while still dripping with wine, and added our wort the next day. We use house-aged, whole-cone hops and begin the fermentation process for this particular batch with the Brettanomyces bruxellensis yeast strain, know for producing those earthy Brett flavors we love so much.

We created one barrel with apricot exclusively for Barrel Club members. The remainder of the batch was fermented with sweet Bing cherries.

Waiting and tasting, after about four months, these fruited Brett Ales are ready for bottling. Vista’s own mineral-rich well water, from 450 feet below the surface, give the yeast a perfect environment to create these beautiful fruited beers. We can’t wait to share them with you!

Previous Barrel Club Releases

Velo de Flor

Belgian-style Lambic

The debut release of the Vista Barrel Club was Velo de Flor, a traditional Belgian-style Lambic. This beer was divided to ferment in three single varietal wine barrels: Tennat, Tempranillo, Aglianico. Barrel Club members will receive an exclusive bottling of each varietal, as well as one bottle of the blend which will be released to the public.

Velo de Floris translated from Spanish to mean “veil of flowers”. We were inspired by the makers of fine sherry in southern Spain and Portugal, where this is the common terminology for the layer of yeast that forms inside the barrel of their wines. In brewing Lambic-styles we take the same approach allowing this film to form which isolates the beer from oxygen and provides micronutrients to the conditioning ale. The name comes from how these yeasts form in small white colonies on-top of each other and hang down into solution. For a brewer, the “velo de flor” is a truly beautiful site.

About the Beer

Handled as traditionally as any American brewery can, our Lambic-style ale is created with un-malted wheat from Barton Springs Mill, locally grown and malted barley from Blacklands Malt and house-aged, whole cone noble hops. Fermentation occurs on a mixture of seven different cultures that are used to mimic the traditional spontaneous fermentations found in southern Belgium. The majority of fermentation occurs when this ale is carefully placed in freshly-emptied wine barrels sourced right here in Central Texas.

This particular batch was aged across three types of single varietal barrel — Tennat, Tempranillo, Aglianico — and may age in barrel for up to five years. At the Brewmaster’s discretion, each barrel is bottled and blended when it’s deemed ready, as well as reservation of a number of barrels for Vista’s multi-year Gueuze program.

Development in bottle is a standard of the Lambic style and Vista’s Velo de Flor should age and become increasingly complex and tart for decades to come if cellared properly. This bright pink-hued ale with fleeting white head is bursting with an amalgam of subtle fruit and a savory earthiness. The palate presents itself with notes tart cherries and Sultanas. The complex fruit notes accentuate delicate hints of lemon, orange, and grapefruit peel. A savory quality is accentuated by the Brettanomyces giving grassy, oaky, dry farmhouse notes of earth and hay, along with a wine-like spice. Mouthfeel is light and effervescent. A natural pairing with cheese courses, this delicate ale will also shine as an aperitif, or enjoyed by itself to celebrate time with friends and family.

Proper Storage

Proper cellaring of our wine barrel aged beers calls for a cool and dark environment. Temperatures of 50-55 degrees are ideal. Aging horizontally is the requested method to allow for more surface area to be in contact with yeast as well as keeping the cork wet (if a cork is used).